One thing about Paul’s letter to the Philippians is certain: he is cautioning Christians to resist the arguments and enticements of “Judaizers.” The “Judaizers” were Jewish disciples of Jesus who insisted that new converts to Christ must first become converts to Judaism.

For example, the Judaizers taught that circumcision and obedience to Torah laws, all

613 of them, were prerequisites to a life lived in Christ. Paul perceived this Judaizing influence to do nothing less than undermine the lordship of Jesus and the lodestar of justification by grace through faith. The Judaizers were bent on enthroning Torah and tradition above the person of Jesus the Christ.

In our text this morning, Paul addresses the Judaizers, who gloried in their genetic genotype and religious phenotype, on their own groun…